In an attempt to solve the problems of traditional smoking, electronic cigarettes and vaporizers have come to the forefront. These devices employ the use of a liquid, concentrate, or dry material inhalants that often comprise glycol ad-mixtures, wax-like substances, herbs, flowers, and other medicinal substances. In the conventional art, the inhalant is placed on or otherwise drawn to and over a metal heating element, such as a metal coil, which coil receives electrical energy from an on-board battery. The electrical energy is converted to heat, thereby heating and vaporizing the inhalant material brought in contact with the heating element. The resultant vapor, smoke, or other aerosol is then inhaled by way of a mouthpiece in fluid communication with an air channel disposed through the device.
The downside of traditional electronic cigarettes and vaporizer systems is that repeated heating and cooling of the metal heating element will cause transfer of heavy metals into the resultant vapor or smoke, resulting in inhalation of harmful and unwanted heavy metal material. Recent studies have in fact shown that heavy metal exposure caused by traditional electronic cigarettes and vaporizers is as harmful as or possibly more harmful than exposure to the carcinogens found in traditional cigarettes.
In addition to the toxicity issues associated with direct contain between the target inhalant material and the metal heating coil, traditional electronic cigarette and vaporizer systems suffer from degradation of and eventual loss of performance due to waste buildup on the metal coil and the surrounding area. As the buildup continues to develop, the device tends to generate less available smoke or vapor and the flavor and “hit” consistency will be impacted. Sooner than later the metal coil will need to be cleaned using toxic chemicals or, in most cases, will need to be replaced regularly. Moreover, it is often difficult or simply inconvenient to load a heating chamber of an electronic smoking device with the inhalant material. For example, in some known concentrate and/or dry material heating chambers, the inhalant material has to be manually inserted and/or manually placed onto the heating coils inside the chamber. These chambers are small and present tight quarters that are difficult or impossible to access for cleaning and can gum up to ill effect.
The nature of heating any material to the point of vaporization or combustion in a nontoxic manner where the element or compound phase transition from the liquid phase to vapor occurs in an inhalation device demands that safety protocols are generously incorporated. Additionally, the performance degradation and convenience issues need to be addressed in order to provide a reliable more user-friendly system. The present invention employs inhalant material container and related system that is a radical departure from the common electronic cigarette, smoking, and vaporization systems known in the art. The present invention demonstrates a key advantage in reduction of trace harmful elements such as heavy metals that have been shown to be delivered to the user due to direct contact of the inhalant material to the traditional metal heat source.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed at reducing and/or eliminating heavy metal contamination found in traditional vaporizer systems while also enhancing the durability and performance of vaporizer system components.
It will be recognized that some or all of the Figures are schematic representations for purposes of illustration and do not necessarily depict the actual relative sizes or locations of the elements shown. The Figures are provided for the purpose of illustrating one or more embodiments of the invention with the explicit understanding that they will not be used to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.